Company ethics – the worldwide disease
Ella couldn’t take another day in her toxic work environment. Like millions of people, she took the plunge and quit her job. Freedom! Ella exclaimed as she settled into her new position. Over the next 90 days, her job transformed from tranquil to the toxic environment she had just left. How can this be?
Currently, 40% of us are thinking about leaving our jobs. We’re in pain and desperate to escape our toxic environment. Have you noticed that the shine wears off quickly no matter how often you switch jobs? In a short period, you find you’re in the same environment you just left.
Does this describe you? Let’s look at different sides of the same dysfunctional coin – the hourly and salaried workers.
Hourly workers – the involuntary part-time workforce
Ella is living on her own for the first time. She started a new job that promised her a full-time position of 40 hours a week. In her first week, she worked 30 hours, and the number of hours she worked steadily declined. She now works between 16 and 24 hours a week. It makes it very difficult for her to keep up with her bills because she is not getting the steady income she was promised. 
Ella has to leave this job because, quite frankly, she can’t afford to work there. So, she finds another job that offers the same false promises. She now works two jobs and still doesn’t earn enough money to pay her bills. She is considering filing for *underemployment.
Many people are in Ella’s shoes. Deskless workers, those working in consumer/retail industries, seem to be the hardest hit by involuntary part-time work.
Nothing New Under the Sun
This isn’t a new dynamic. It’s been going on for decades. It hits women and people of color the most and becomes more prevalent during a recession. Companies hire a surplus of hourly workers because they prepare for workers who don’t show up or quit without notice. Workers accept a position with the promise of full-time work.
Both sides suffer
Ironically, the company is causing the reaction they are trying to avoid. Ella is trying to protect herself. The company is trying to protect itself by making promises they will not keep. Company ethics is a zero-sum game – their way or the highway. Ella can’t survive without a job, and a company can’t survive without workers. This isn’t a zero-sum game; everyone loses.
Salaried workers – overworked, underpaid, and overwhelmed.
If you think you have problems setting boundaries at an in-office position…
Faith works at one of the big three automotive companies. At the beginning of the pandemic, she was secretly jealous of those who worked from home. Like most people, she thought, “It must be nice to get paid to sit at home and do nothing.” When Faith started working from home, her eyes were opened.
The number of useless distractions between you and your deadline has quadrupled. People have access to video conferencing, IM, email, and your mobile – and they are not afraid to use them.
According to one report, remote workers are interrupted every 6 – 12 minutes. Imagine if 50% of these interruptions are requests for information or a new task added to your day. The stress can add up, especially if the task is unrelated to your primary job. But you work remotely; you have time to figure out how to get it done, right?
If you thought the once-a-week staff meeting was tedious, imagine attending meetings for 2 – 4 hours daily!
Faith found she had two problems with the mounting meetings she faced. First, she worked for a global company that no longer respected time zones. If the big boss was in Australia and wanted a
3:00 p.m. meeting, you better be on that call.
Second, Faith attempted to complete 10 – 12 hours of work in 8 hours. The barrage of meetings made it harder to meet the already unrealistic deadlines.
If you thought it was hard finding work-life balance in an in-office setting…
Here are some disadvantages of the salaried employee. If someone quits, gets fired, or isn’t pulling their weight – the manager will look to you to take up the slack. Why? Because you’re the super employee. You will work yourself into the ground and do it with a smile. Employers love employees like that.
“Why should I hire a new employee when I know Gretta will do the work of two people for the price of one? She’s a people pleaser that will grind herself into the ground working for this company,
and she’ll never ask for overtime. I’m ok with it.” Yes, this is an actual conversation that an owner of a financial planning firm had with me about his office manager.
You, the super worker, need to learn to set boundaries. Trust me, I’m preaching to the choir. When you work remotely, keeping your home and work life separate can be challenging. “Well, I’ll just work a few more hours,” you say.
Let’s do some calculations of our own. Faith is a super worker who makes $65,000/year. When she did the calculations, she worked 72 hours that week! Using a take-home pay calculator, we see Faith makes $1,006/week. That’s $25.15 for a 40-hour workweek. Now. divide her pay by 72 – Faith earned an hourly wage of $13.97.
Salaried worker, are you eligible for overtime pay? Find out here.
Focus and work on your plan
First, hourly and salaried workers alike must learn how to forgive themselves. We are basically being set up to fail in this no-win situation.
- Hourly workers – you are not failing at life because you can’t make ends meet when all you can find is involuntary part-time wages
- Salaried workers – there’s nothing wrong with you. You are not a failure at your job because you can’t fit 18 hours of work into 8 hours.
Beating yourself up, worrying, and having pity parties will get you nowhere. Stay focused, stay calm and work on your plan.
Here is the same advice given in our introduction article to this 4-part series. Ask yourself, “What empowers me?” If you plan on leaving your job, be smart. Finding a new position may take 3 – 6 months.
Network! Network! Network!
Remember Maria from our first-ever Savvy Solo Article? She is a Latino woman over 50. She sent hundreds of resumes and felt invisible. She doesn’t have any social connections, and she doesn’t make friends easily.
Maria knew one co-worker she kept in touch with when they departed from a company 5 years ago. That connection opened the door, and Maria got a new job in two weeks.
It’s not what you know; it’s who you know that’s important.
A few of you may say, “I don’t know anyone!” Ok, we’ve got you covered. Contact a temporary employment agency. They can be a valuable resource in your job search. Temp agencies specialize in everything from cashiers to CEOs. Use every resource at your disposal.
Sometimes you need to reach out to others to get your foot in the door. There’s a time and season for everything. There’s a time to stand alone and a time to graciously accept help when needed. It’s time to take actions that get results.
TAKE AWAY
This just in: Did you know the average rent for a studio apartment in Long Island, NY, is $2,500/month? Most properties want their tenants to make 4 times the rent to qualify for an apartment. That means the tenants must make $62.50/hour to live in a 550-square-foot apartment! Here’s the real comedy, the minimum wage in New York is $15/hour.
*Two staunchly different views
Board Members and CEOs think they are really doing something when they offer someone $19/hour. They puff out their chests and say, “We are the heroes of the working class. We create jobs!”
Really? From the working class’s point of view, this broken system creates modern day slaves.
Heaven help us all.
In Corporate America, the company always wins. Why? Because as long as it’s their game and their rules, the worker always loses. I’ll see you in part two, where we will explore gig work.
*The laws of underemployment vary by state. To learn more, go to Google and type “underemployment” + the state. The word underemployment must be in quotation marks. Example: “underemployment” Missouri.